Terri M. Kelleher and Peter Westmore discuss the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that relate to Cardinal Pell and were recently made public.
Read Peter Westmore's article at http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=59011&s=bDWbcF

On Wednesday October 17, 2018, Queensland became the second Australian state to legalise open-slather abortion and simultaneously remove the conscientious objection of medical practitioners to opt out of referrals for the lethal procedure in an emotional and often personal debate that succeeded 50 votes to 41.

During the Wentworth by-election campaign, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his intention to remove protections for the freedoms of faith-based schools to select students in relation to a student’s sexual orientation, that is, their heterosexual or gay or lesbian sexual orientation.

The latest report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demanding an end to the use of coal for electricity production to stop runaway global warming, is contradicted by reliable scientific studies on the world’s climate.

With 85.7 per cent of Aust­ralia’s 2.3 million immigrants between 2006–16 choosing to live in the capital cities, the Federal Coalition Government has flagged a population package to entice or force migrants to live in the regions to ease congestion and infrastructure deficiencies in the cities.

The courageous and outspoken defence of free speech at universities by University of Western Australia chancellor and former High Court Chief Justice Robert French (News Weekly, October 6, 2018) may have helped waken a realisation among his peers that, thanks to the thuggery of some leftist students and staff, universities are losing their reputation as bastions of free inquiry and debate.

In the UK, since 2009, there has been an alarming increase in the number of children seeking gender transitioning treatment, indicating a 4000 per cent increase over that time. This has resulted in UK Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the reasons why.

The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) announced in mid-September that there would be “refinements” made to the Australian curriculum. The updated national curriculum will bring general capabilities to the fore in classrooms, teaching children skills such as critical thinking, empathy and resilience.

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, headed by one of Australia’s most prominent jurists, Ken Hayne, has released its interim report, which shows systematic abuse of financial power by the big four banks and insurance companies.

When Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently tweeted, “we don’t need ‘gender whisperers’ in schools”, he should have been congratulated, not attacked, for alerting parents to how governments are interfering in Australian families.

It was highly revealing that The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the forced resignation of the ABC chairman under the heading “Politics”, given that the ABC is an organisation whose charter requires it to be independent, accurate and impartial.

In November 2017, the Victorian ALP Government of Daniel Andrews passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act to make it legal for health professionals to assist a patient on request to kill him or her self, physician-assisted suicide (PAS).

In the last edition of News Weekly, Neil Eagle focused on the crisis in water allocation and food security. This time he examines two other areas of national urgency: reliable and affordable power; and energy security.

While Canberra is reportedly negotiating with Papua New Guinea for a joint naval facility on Manus Island, Australia could greatly expand investment in its island neighbours by creating a Pacific infrastructure development bank.

Without the beautiful natural location and magnificent beaches of other capital cities around Australia, the people of Melbourne have long consoled themselves that they lived in what was “the world’s most liveable city”. No longer.

Former Australian Intelligence analyst Paul Monk, in a hard-hitting speech to the Council for the National Interest in Perth, lambasted some of Australia’s leading politicians and public servants in their attitude to the communist regime in Beijing.

There was something markedly different about Brisbane’s second March for Life of 2018 – different from any other pro-life march throughout Australia as far back as a millennial such as this writer can remember.

An address to the Australian Family Association March 26, 2017
Professor Margaret Somerville speaks about the issues around legalising assisted suicide/euthanasia which is being proposed at the moment in Victoria and other states. Margaret Somerville is Samuel Gale professor of law emerita in the faculty of medicine and founding director emerita of the Centre for Medicine, Law and Ethics at McGill University in Montreal Canada where she taught for more than 30 years before returning to Notre Dame University in Sydney last year as professor of bio-ethics in the School of Medicine. She has researched developments regarding euthanasia and end-of-life decision making over 3 decades.